Sally's GF3 thread

[cavemanrich]

I've put out shallow pans of water for them, with stones for them to stand on.

I do same. Put stones into my bird bath. I don't raise bees,,, but neighbor 1/2 block away does. See his bees on my flowers all summer. There are also other bees that I see on my flowers. Mason bees, and some feral honey bees as well.
How do I know????
Neighbor knows his bees,,, and also knows the others that he seen, when we were chillin, and talking in summer near my flowers.

 

[Sally PB]

but I'd bet that pic is AI.

Yeah, but I still like it.

 

[aart]

Yeah, but I still like it.

It is a cool image!

 

[Sally PB]

Neighbor knows his bees,,, and also knows the others that he seen, when we were chillin, and talking in summer near my flowers.

That's cool. Do you know what variety of bees he has?

 

[Sally PB]

I do same. Put stones into my bird bath. I don't raise bees,,, but neighbor 1/2 block away does. See his bees on my flowers all summer.

I learned that honey bees will range up to 3 miles for pollen and nectar. That is a HUGE area! A circle with a 3 mile radius is over 28 square miles.

That also means that all the farmer fields near me... that get sprayed with whatever they spray with... yeah. It also means that someone claiming they have "organic honey" in Michigan, probably doesn't.

 

[cavemanrich]

That's cool. Do you know what variety of bees he has?

I will ask him next time we chat,, Then will forward the info to you. Will also let you know where he gets his queens'.

 

[Sally PB]

We "split" our (single) hive last April, as it seemed to be bursting at the seams. If bees feel they're out of space, they'll swarm, taking the queen and about 60% of the bees and look for more spacious digs.

The second hive seemed to be doing very well, and yet it still died in December. So I dismantled it and cleaned out the dead bees. I'll give it another cleaning if it needs it after the temps warm and I don't mind being in the garage.

So, we need another colony of bees. NOW is the time to order them, as suppliers will sell out as more and more people either find out their hive(s) didn't survive the winter, or want to keep bees.

I happened to see Ed "my bee guy" in the store and talked to him about his hives. Was he going to get bees from where we both got bees in May, 2023? HARD NO. (explanation coming) He was ordering from Dadant, one of the big supply places. I looked at their website, and then decided I'd check the bee club website, as I know that some of the members do raise and sell nucs (short for "nucleus colony"). And one of them is about 10 miles away, so I can easily drive there and get a nuc, as well as support a club member. So I ordered a nuc, and it'll be ready around mid-June.

Explanation. Ed and I both got bees from a place in Fremont, MI. He got 6 packages, I got a nuc, in May 2023. A nuc is a bit more expensive, but is easier to deal with, especially for newbs. Ed's 6 went to a Menonite farm that he rents hives to. Last year, he ordered 8 packages (for the hives on his property) and a friend ordered 4. (Imagine driving for about 2 hours with 10s of thousands of bees in the back your pickup truck...) Anyway, ALL 12 of those colonies died over the summer. This means something is really wrong. Ed said the queens weren't laying well, and there were a crap ton of drone cells when he looked inside. Drones are what hatch from an unfertilized egg. For that to happen to 12 colonies...?!? He happened to be in Fremont, and went back to where he got the packages. The owner said that a lot of people had complained, and the owner thought he had gotten a load of "poorly mated" queens from a supplier in Georgia.

Ed told me he'd quit keeping bees if he had to get bees from Fremont. I hope they get better queens and don't have this problem again. Word gets around, just like with hatcheries.

 

[Apis mellifera]

The owner said that a lot of people had complained, and the owner thought he had gotten a load of "poorly mated" queens from a supplier in Georgia.

Unfortunately, packaged mass produced budget queens come with drawbacks. Sometimes it's not even the producer but the shipper, if queens are exposed to extreme temperature changes it can affect the quality of the queens. With packages it's so important to do weekly inspections and evaluate the brood pattern, when things don't look good you have to combine hives, buy or raise a few queens.

An easy way to water bees is with those black rubber feed tubs. I like the Fortex tubs. The water heats up and the bees go to it, very few will drown, you don't need to float anything in them.

 

[Sally PB]

An easy way to water bees is with those black rubber feed tubs. I like the Fortex tubs. The water heats up and the bees go to it, very few will drown, you don't need to float anything in them.

Is there anything you can add to the water to keep it or the bowl from getting slimy? Or just plan on cleaning it everyday?

 

[Sally PB]

Pip laid an egg today. 75 grams. She's my girl who had salpingitis a year ago.

This is from November 2023. She liked to get on my shoulder and tell me secrets.